The Science

• Prevent injuries caused by training. Look at risk benefit

• DO NO HARM

• Prevent injuries in competition

• Improve performance

  • • If you get out of order you risk having players miss key games

Philosophy of Movement Selection

Needs analysis

• Energy

  • • One must analyze the specificity demands of the sport

    • Active time and recover ratio

• Movement

  • • Look at movements not muscles specifically

    • Assess a functional approach

      • • I.e. Leg extensions vs. Front lunges

    • Planes of motion

      • • Sagittal, Frontal, Transverse

        • Exercising all planes of motion will reduce likelihood of injury and inhibit compensatory patterns

• Injury

  • • Understand common musculoskeletal injuries associated with the sport

    • High risk movements (I.e. Snatch with overhead athletes)

Category of body movements

• Mobility

• Activation

• Vertical Push/Pull

• Horizontal Push/Pull

• Knee (Quad)

• Hip

• Anti-Core

Joint by joint approach

• Body is a stack of vertical joints

  • • Mobile joints (Ankle, Hip, Thoracic Spine, Shoulder, Wrist)

      • • Movement analysis to assess joint mobility

    • Stable joints (Foot, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Cervical Spine, Elbow)

      • • Ensure stable joints aren't excessively mobile

        • Stable joints could compensate and lead to injuries if not properly addressed

Stability before mobility? Situational..

• Athlete who has hypermobile joints, consider stability before mobility

• Individual who lacks range of motion, examine the thought of mobility before stability

• Generally mobility before stability, stability before movement, movement before strength

Maintain a neutral spine

• Everyone has a different "Neutral" spine

• Teach athletes how to achieve "their" neutral spine

  • • Squeeze butt and lower rib cage on exhalation "Brace core"

Teaching athletes to "Engage abs"

Importance of engaging core muscles

• As loads start getting heavier one must maintain spinal and core stability

• The idea is to maintain abdominal tension throughout the entire set, however allow some air and out at the end of each repetition

  • • Failure to do so could compromise spinal alignment leading to micro or macro traumatic injuries

• Find which cues helps your athletes adapt and choose what works best for them

Approach #1

1. Have athlete lay on their back. Instruct the athlete to inhale and smell the roses through the nose to fill belly with air

2. Exhale and blow out the candles and press lower back into the floor

3. Once rib cage is down, this is bracing position

Approach #2

1. Exhale fully through your mouth to feel your ribs drop and abs engage

2. Without allowing ribs to flare up in the front (common breathing mistake), maintain tension in your abs, rapidly suck air in through the nose

3. There should be increased "tension" in the abdominal area as pressure builds up against your contracted abs

Ground based speed movement

• Speed is greatest strength builder / Force development

• Increase stride length and stride frequency

  • • 10 yard sprint / Flying 10's

    • 5 - 10 - 5 (Medial & lateral push-offs)

    • Hurdle hops

      • • Single leg vs. double leg

        • Stick landing / Bouncing / Continuous

    • Linear and lateral speed development through forward/lateral sled pushes

Progressive overload

• If a stimulus is applied to the body, the body will adapt

• Overload stimulus

  • • Progressing exercise

    • Unilateral vs. Bilateral

    • Rep scheme

    • Accommodating resistance (Chains / bands)

• Anti-Core/Ab progression

  • • Increase 8 to 10 to 12 reps over time, advance ab exercise progression then reset back to 8 reps. Repeat technique

French contrast method (Post-activation-potentiation)

• Heavy weighted exercise to recruit maximal muscle fibers followed by an explosive movement

  • • Plyometric exercise must be back to back (within 30 seconds) to keep neuromuscular system/recruitment before engagement dissipates

    • Linear: Sled Push -> Hurdle Hops -> Keiser Broad Jumps -> Flying 10's

    • Lateral: Crossover Sled Push -> Lateral Bound Stick -> TBDL Jump -> 5 - 10 - 5